Saturday, March 19, 2005

Transmission By Tilak, Enlightenment Not Included

File under: Satscams

Disgraced and thought long gone from the biz, single-named con-man guru Tilak has surfaced once again. Featured by an obviously and sadly duped YOGItimes, Tilak is still at it with a flashlight, a breath mint and the hopeful expectations of those seeking what they already have.

We encountered Tilak a few times in the early mid 90s. We even went as far as to receive one of his "treatments" at the apartment of a friend. We entered a darkened bedroom and were told to lay on our backs on a bed. Tilak then positioned himself at the head of this bed, leaned over and blew on our forehead. Seemingly miraculously, we saw a bit of light when he blew. Fortunately for us, we were of the wrong sex to receive one of his "special" treatments.

It turned out that Tilak was using a small flashlight in his mouth, mostly for the purposes of gaining a harem of female devotees to service his sexual needs. It's rumored he even went as far as to impregnate his own 14-year old niece!

In our years observing and commenting on the guru biz, we've learned this: there is no such thing as enlightenment by transmission. Anything that you "feel" in the context of a guru's attention is just that, a feeling. Scamming gurus use the expectations of their devotees to suggest these "feelings." Devotees wanting to please the guru then generate these feelings at the guru's suggestion. When they have the feeling they made themselves feel, they believe it confirms what they desperately want the guru to be for them, their own little private Godman (or woman,) as well as indicating their own special, spiritual "advancement." This is one of the oldest tricks in the world of gurudom, and is basically the mechanism which keeps all guru satscams going.

But when you are asking the women of your satsang to do you and each other, setting them against one another and maybe even impregnating a 14-year old, chances are that your satscam is going to crash in a heap of disappointment and disillusionment. But if he can keep it in his pants this time, Tilak stands a chance of rebuilding his satscam. Such is the fertility of the field of spiritual seekers desperate to be someone else by imagining they are getting infusions of spiritual power from the likes of con-men and criminals.

8 Comments:

Take the case of Tilak. The guy clearly says he is not a guru but that doesn't stop ex-raver raving Radzik from pinning it on him and several other victims on his blog pages. So far no-one has even deemed them comment worthy.

Jody seems ever jealous that he cannot get and give experiences but only trade in the most mundane of ramblings.

I have never heard the story about the niece and Radzik does not even try to back it up with dates. Very suspicious. Is he talking about something in the East where everyone is an "uncle" and the legal age much lower than in the West?

So what if Tilak has a harem? Hefner had one. Most guys would give their teeth for one.

However, Radzik completely ínsults his readers by suggesting that the whole spiritual group thing was invented to have a harem.

Tilak has a registered non-profit org. So that blows any money-making insinuation by Radzik right out of the water.

Radzik seems to not know his targets or enough about spiritual experiences.

Note that people see lights and feel bliss after seeing Tilak. If someone could give me a spiritual experience then I would be honored. Radzik would probably give me nothing more than an earache!

Tilak's abilities have been witnessed by academics and medical institutions. Radzik has no credentials in these matters only a lonely scepticism. In 1973 Tilak was invited to attend the Maudsley Hospital in London to share his views and skills. Later that year, he came to the United States at the invitation of Dr. J.L. Moreno, the founder of group psychotherapy and psychodrama at the Moreno Institute in New York. There his views and his presence touched many psychiatrists. This led to an invitation to go to Philadelphia to share his new way of seeing consciousness with healing arts professionals. Later, Tilak was invited by Dr. Fanita English of the Institute of Transactional Analysis.

Take the case of Tilak. The guy clearly says he is not a guru but that doesn't stop ex-raver raving Radzik from pinning it on him and several other victims on his blog pages. So far no-one has even deemed them comment worthy.

Anyone who sets themselves up as a spiritual teacher and is a public figure in some way is considered a guru for the purposes of this blog.

Jody seems ever jealous that he cannot get and give experiences but only trade in the most mundane of ramblings.

"Giving" spiritual experiences is the purview of con men and women and those needy for self-esteem. The "experiences" people "get" have as much to do with self-realization as my dog's ass. It's just a way to keep people interested in you as a guru. Set yourself up as a giver of spiritual experiences and let the guru-placebo effect do it for you. No actual "spiritual power" is required, or even exists.

I have never heard the story about the niece and Radzik does not even try to back it up with dates. Very suspicious. Is he talking about something in the East where everyone is an "uncle" and the legal age much lower than in the West?

I'm informed by an insider that is was around 1996. She was 14 and it was in a part of the USA where the age of consent is definitely not 14.

So what if Tilak has a harem? Hefner had one. Most guys would give their teeth for one.

Hefner isn't claiming to wield any kind of "spiritual power," misnomer that the term is. In addition, most folks expect their gurus to be beyond collecting women for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

However, Radzik completely ínsults his readers by suggesting that the whole spiritual group thing was invented to have a harem.

True. It was invented as a way to make a living as well as to get laid, at least with regards to Tilak. Or at the very least, that's what it seems to exist as now for him.

Tilak has a registered non-profit org. So that blows any money-making insinuation by Radzik right out of the water.

Like everyone in a non-profit isn't taking money, some by the shitload?

Radzik seems to not know his targets or enough about spiritual experiences.

We know that anything which could be called an "experience" is just that. It lies in the realm of the psychological, and has as much to do with self-realization as my dog's ass.

Note that people see lights and feel bliss after seeing Tilak. If someone could give me a spiritual experience then I would be honored. Radzik would probably give me nothing more than an earache!

See above. I can drop some acid to see lights and bliss. Does that make it spiritual? Furthermore, the faith-healing mechanism can account for each and every experience that anyone has had as a result of meeting Tilak. All he has to do is act in a manner that leads others to *believe* in his so-called "spiritual power." Their own gullibility does the rest.

Tilak's abilities have been witnessed by academics and medical institutions. Radzik has no credentials in these matters only a lonely scepticism. In 1973 Tilak was invited to attend the Maudsley Hospital in London to share his views and skills. Later that year, he came to the United States at the invitation of Dr. J.L. Moreno, the founder of group psychotherapy and psychodrama at the Moreno Institute in New York. There his views and his presence touched many psychiatrists. This led to an invitation to go to Philadelphia to share his new way of seeing consciousness with healing arts professionals. Later, Tilak was invited by Dr. Fanita English of the Institute of Transactional Analysis.

Yes, psychologists and psychiatrists can be just as stupid as the rest of us.

Since the "insider" you are referring to in your post is obiviously Douglas Rushkoff or one of his sycophants who reports to him, why don't you ask him why he didn't report the statutory rape you mentioned and ask him what kind of flashlight is was that Tilak had in his mouth, because he must have seen it as well as you. If and when he gives you the answers, please get back to us.

I saw the flashlight, because Tilaks son one day came out of the session room showing it to every one there. It was another of the many educational experiences I had with Tilak, to watch a room full of people in complete denial to what was right there in their faces. I thought it showed that Tilaks teenage son had more moral character than his dad. On the other hand, I personally did have life changing experiences in that session room, and I witnessed my good friend right after a session and she too had an incredible experience (was too short for the unclothed kind thank god). I also witnessed other completely mind boggling things out in central park and in a large open room. So my final expereience with Tilak was I better not try to think I can understand things as black and white as I like. I also learned that someone can have strange abilities but not be at all morally worthy of them, according to the morality I grew up with (and what does that mean? A lot actually, pimping your followers is kind of wrong, sorry). In all it was worth the few hundred dollars I spent hanging out there. I'm glad I too was the wrong sex for those special sessions tho, maybe I would've been actually harmed, it's possible.

T did impregnate his 14 year old niece. This is truth. It was a very messy situation. And just because someone has spiritual powers it surely does not justify egotistical behavior... it is damaging both emotionally and spiritually.

.... An appropriate name for your blog could have been Neti Neti.— Rama

While we understand that gurus are held sacred by many, they
are also public figures deserving of scrutiny. Our primary aim
is to inject a little humor into what can be an excessively
self-righteous enterprise, and to illustrate the primary truth that
no matter how divine their devotees believe them to be, gurus
poop on the same pot we do.